Alabama hacker accused of sending SWAT team to Texas house

By Dane Schiller

Updated 8:22 pm, Thursday, November 15, 2012

A 19-year-old from Alabama is facing federal charges for making a bogus call that led to an entire SWAT team being dispatched to the home of a Colony, Texas man who owed him money over some Xbox Live Gamertags, officials said Thursday.

Stephen Sherwin Stepho, who uses the Xbox Live Gamertag "NuBlom," is accused of using an Internet-based phone to mask his identify and location.

He allegedly called 911 during the early morning hours and pretended to be the home's resident, and said a home invasion was under way. By using software that masked his location, the call appeared to be coming from inside the Texas residence, authorities said.

"The entire on-duty police force in Colony responded to this alert," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Shamoil T. Shipchandler, who is based in Plano.

The scam is known as "swatting" and has come up several times around the nation, Shipchandler said.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Stepho had not been arrested.

"There is an arrest warrant out on him. We hope he'll either tun himself in or we'll pick him up," Shipchandler said.

The prosecutor explained the Gamertag is an individual identifier, like a name, used by Xbox players so they can go online and compete against strangers and keep track of achievement points gained by victories.

Points associated with a Gamertag can be redeemed for Microsoft products.

According to the indictment, Stepho's original dispute is rooted in the Texas man owing him money for a pair of fraudulent Xbox Gamertags.

Stepho, who authorities said had previously been involved in hacking, faces up to two years in federal prison if convicted.